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In October 2002, the Danish capital, København, got its first metro line running fully automated from east to west.

The original metro system had a fleet of 34 trains, and 30 were added for the Cityringen, each with 3 walk-through cars, 6 doors on each side, 100 seats in a total capacity of aprox. 300 passengers a train. For the first five years the Copenhagen Metro was operated by Ansaldo Trasporti, a partner of the Ørestad Company and builder of the trains and railway installation.

Nørreport provides interchange to Copenhagen's S-Tog system (a commuter rail system operated by DSB - Danish State Railways) which runs rather like a metro within the city (see below).

This construction project was combined with a major city development called Ørestad in the south of the city. The line has two branches on the eastern side, one south to Ørestad and the other south-east to Copenhagen's Airport (Lufthavn).

The first phase (taken into service on 19 Oct. 2002) includes the sections Nørreport - Ørestad - Vestamager via the city centre and the south-eastern branch as far as Lergravsparken. Two more stations, Forum and Frederiksberg, were added on 29 May 2003. On 12 Oct. 2003, the metro reached Vanløse (Flintholm station opening in early 2004).

The line runs 20-30 m underground for 9 km, with 9 underground stations (61 m long, 20 m wide). All stations have elevators and escalators and platforms are separated from the tracks by a glass wall and screen doors. Between Frederiksberg and Vanløse the line follows an alignment formerly used by S-trains. A new interchange station was added to the project at Flintholm to provide transfer to the new S-Tog ring line.

The third phase of the metro project is the so-called Østamagerbanen, the 4.5 km link between Lergravsparken and the airport (Lufthavnen). Although initially planned to run on an elevated structure, it was finally built partly at grade and partly in an open cutting. With the opening of this extension in September 2007, the metro network has reached a total length of 21 km.

19 Oct. 2002: Nørreport - Vestamager / Lergravsparken
29 May 2003: Nørreport - Frederiksberg
12 Oct 2003: Frederiksberg - Vanløse (except Flintholm station)
24 Jan 2004: Flintholm station added (incl. S-Tog station)
28 Sept 2007: Lergravsparken - Lufthavnen

A new line was proposed in July 2000 which was to become a fully underground ring line (M3) linking the Central Station to Kongens Nytorv, Østerport, Nørrebro and Frederiksberg stations. The definitive alignment was approved in November 2005, and later a northern and a southern branch were added to the project (M4). The full 15.5 km circle line (M3) was opened in Sept 2019.

Basic parameters for stations and trains follow those applied for the original metro system (M1/M2). The branch from Østerport to the redevelopment area at Nordhavn, with an elevated terminus at Orientkaj, opened in 2020, while the southern branch to Ny Ellebjerg started construction in 2018 and was completed in mid-2024.

29 Sept 2019: Cityringen (M3): København H - Østerport - Nørrebro - Frederiksberg - København H
28 Mar 2020: M4 Østerport - Orientkaj (~2.2 km)
22 June 2024: M4 København H - København Syd (~5 km)

Copenhagen's S-Tog system (a suburban rail system operated by DSB - Danish State Railways) which runs rather like a metro within the city; completely separated from the rest of the Danish rail network, operating under a 1500 V DC catenary.

08 Jan 2005: S-Tog Ringline Flintholm - Danshøj - Ny Ellebjerg
06 Jan 2007: Ny Ellebjerg permanent station (former Ellebjerg station of Køgebugt-Line closed), renamed København Syd on 10 Dec 2023

 Light Rail Project

Though planned for a long time, the final step for the construction of a 28 km tangential light rail line along ring road no. 3 was taken in March 2018 when the contract was signed with Siemens and Per Aarsleff A/S to build the route through the western suburbs, running from Lyngby in the north to Ishøj in the southwest. There will be 29 stops, with five providing transfer to the radial S-tog lines. Siemens will supply 27 four-car Avenio trams. The line is set to open in 2025. [Project Website]

Københavns Metro (Offcial Page)

Public Transport (Din Offentlige Transport)

Movia (Fares, Timetables, etc.)

DSB (Danish State Railways) - S-tog operator

Ansaldobreda (now Hitachi Rail)

Letbane - Light Rail Project

Transport Ministry

S-tog and Metro at Wikipedia

Urban Rail in Copenhagen by Thomas de Laine

Read your webmaster's personal impressions on the Copenhagen rail systems (Sept. 2013) and first impressions of new Cityringen (M3) (Oct. 2019)

Robert Schwandl:  U-BAHNEN IN SKANDINAVIEN. Metros in Scandinavia: Stockholm, Oslo, Helsinki & København . - 144 Seiten/pages, 17x24 cm, 300 Farbfotos/colour photos, 5 Netzpläne/Network maps, Text deutsch/English, ISBN 3-936573-04-2 More info | Weitere Info

Photos © Henrik Fredskild